I bought a Tempestus Scions Start Collecting box from Games Workshop, part of their Adeptus Militarum line, with the intention of painting them in memoriam for my father who passed in 2017. After four years and some tribulation, I completely painted the entire box.
This single figure Commissar from the Start Colecting box was a chance to relax and flex a bit. All the shading and color blending I learned while fixing my Scions was put to work, and I stretched with some white fabric and glowing plasma.
It’s fairly by-the-book in Commissar, notorious for their imperious glares and habit of shooting their own troops to “restore morale”. The color scheme matches the classic maroon and black greatcoat with gold trim, and I didn’t bother converting it much beyond elevating the base to match the Scions. But executing the blending and layering on color after color helped solidify my skills for future minis.
Rather than completing one color at a time, this is the first mini where, from the very start, I blocked in all the base colors before moving to shades and highlights. It worked so well on the Scions repaint that I had to try it from scratch. I worked all base colors into place, working from skin out to metal doodads, and then I layered them one after the other. While I felt like I had my entire paint collection out at once, it saved time and countless touch-ups to get the base coats and boundaries defined so early. I resolved to use it on my next batch painting job: a squad of Skitarii, a marshal, and a Dominus tech priest.
Having done plasma glow on previous models, I feel the biggest skill increase came from painting the white sash. Ever an intimidating color, the white on the sash was an affair of patience. The almost-grey Corax White base provided excellent coverage over a black base. And it was shaded blue theater. Then highlights worked up from grey to white to really make the blue shade pop. This dash of blue shade drew out the purple from the maroon overcoat. It also helped complement the plasma glow and optics to tie the miniature together.
I can see numerous ways to touch up this mini were I to go back. The chest needs some neatening up, and the plasma glow could use a bit of help. But it’s the plain metal sword that sticks out the most. I might want to try a better technique than edge highlighting to make the flat metal surface more believable.
All in all, this character model worked as a confidence builder after such a long slog like the Scions. I’m glad the Start Collecting box is done, but I’m also not rushing out to buy more. I already have one infantry-heavy army to collect, and they are plenty-detailed and challenging.
